Maine high school football officially kicked off this Friday, with week one featuring noteworthy showings from Portland, Oceanside and Windham.
All three teams bested recent Maine state champions, suggesting that there could be some turnover in the power rankings this fall.
Portland beats Thornton Academy away, 35-28
In their first game back as members of Class A, the Portland Bulldogs endured the daunting task of playing the Thornton Academy Trojans away on Friday night.
Longtime Class A powerhouse Thornton Academy finished as state finalists last fall, and had a perfect 2021 campaign, winning its fifth championship since 2012.
But the Bulldogs clearly also had something to prove, having finished as Class B runners-up in 2022 and state semifinalists in 2021, as they came out on top Friday night in Saco.
“Nobody picked us, but we thought we could do it,” Bulldogs’ first-year head coach Sean Green told The Forecaster. “Regardless of classification, football is football at the end of the day.”
Both sides returned the first two kickoffs for touchdowns, although Bulldogs’ Reegan Buck’s 90-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff was called back for an illegal block in the back.
Unfazed, the Bulldogs went ahead and forged a 62-yard scoring drive, before having their lead immediately negated by Thornton junior Ryan Camire’s 82-yard touchdown run on the ensuing kickoff.
Flash forward to the final minute of the fourth quarter, Buck got his big score with the game tied at 28-28.
Quarterback Louis Thurston hit Buck in stride for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 48 seconds to go, Buck’s third score of the game, as the Bulldogs went on to win 35-28.
Buck also had rushing touchdowns of one yard and 10 yards in the second quarter, finishing with 143 total yards from scrimmage.
“This means everything,” Buck told The Forecaster. “Our chemistry is unmatched. We all trust each other to do our part.”
Portland’s victory over Thornton Academy was its first in 16 years. Most recently, Thornton had beaten Portland in the 2018 and 2015 Class A state championship games.
Oceanside beats Cape Elizabeth at home, 50-12
Selected as one of five North teams to watch this fall, the Oceanside Mariners kicked off their season by blowing out 2021 Class C state champions Cape Elizabeth.
Oceanside’s offense was revitalized last year under new head coach Sam Weiss, averaging 37.4 points per game in 2022, after only putting up 10.6 in 2021.
“We aim for 50,” Weiss said. “Our goal is to score, never to punt.”
The Mariners broke it open with 22 second-quarter points, taking a 30-6 lead with 0.5 seconds left in the half after senior quarterback Cohen Galley found junior Chris Mills for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The 70-yard drive lasted only 45 seconds.
Cohen Galley also threw three touchdowns to his twin brother, Carter, who was unable to play most of last year due to injury. Cohen finished with 218 passing yards, 170 of which went through Carter.
On the ground, reigning Big 11 Player of the Year senior Aiden Sargent had two superb touchdown runs, scoring from 42 and then 79 yards out.
Sargent was bugged by an injury this preseason, but “showed that he was back” by turning on “the burners” those two times, said Weiss.
Sargent finished with 183 yards on 12 carries, while Cohen ran for 81 plus a touchdown on eight carries. The duo accounted for all seven Oceanside touchdowns.
On defense, Oceanside kept Cape Elizabeth at bay with two interceptions and seven tackles for a loss. Next week’s matchup against a tough Hermon offensive line should be an interesting test for the Mariners, which conceded 46 points to the Hawks in last year’s Class C regional semifinal.
Windham beats Skowhegan away, 35-0
The Windham Eagles overpowered reigning Class B champions Skowhegan Friday night and built a 28-0 lead going into halftime.
Windham was playing with a chip on its shoulder, considering it beat Skowhegan 14-7 in last year’s regular season, before being eliminated in the first round of the Class B North playoffs.
Both teams were forced to punt on their opening drives, but senior Tobias Perkins opened the scoring for Windham when he returned Skowhegan’s punt 40 yards for a touchdown.
From there, senior running back Marcus Tillery added on three first half rushing touchdowns, from 71, 5 and 54 yards out.
“I think the turning point was that play by Tobias,” Tillery told The Morning Sentinel. “Right after that, we just started playing fired up, man. We were moving out there, we were playing physical, and when you have that kind of energy, that’s the outcome.”
On the other end, a young Skowhegan team struggled to get organized on offense, as turnovers and penalties diluted any chance of a River Hawk comeback.
“When you have a bunch of those penalties and mental errors that start to stack up, it costs you,” first-year head coach Brad Cyr said. “We’ve got a pile of sophomores out there that are getting their first taste of varsity, and we know that learning curve is going to be steep.”
Windham will host an upstart Bangor team this Friday, as both teams vye to improve to 2-0.